US researchers develop process to make sugars for biofuel production

11:13 AM MST | January 17, 2014 | Francinia Protti-Alvarez

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison; Madison, WI) have developed a process for creating a concentrated stream of sugars that has potential for biofuel production, the university announced. The scientists used gamma valerolactone, an organic compound, to deconstruct plants and produce sugars that can be chemically or biologically upgraded into biofuels. The process converts 85-95% of the starting material to sugars. These sugars can be fed to yeast for fermentation into bioethanol, or chemically upgraded furans to create drop-in...